Question:
After reading a recent answer to a diver who asked how to attach his abalone tag to a rare abalone he'd taken that had no siphon holes where he could affix the tag, I have a question. Some members of my dive club and I assisted DFG with the abalone creel survey last year. We noticed that some of the pickers we surveyed used rubber bands to attach the tags to the abalone. They just laid the tag on the shell and put the rubber band all the way around the abalone to hold the tag on. There were no holes in the tags. Is this a legal way to attach the tag?

Answer:
No, this is not legal. The law requires the tag be "... securely fastened to the shell of the abalone. To affix the tag, a zip tie, string, line or other suitable material shall be passed through a siphon hole on the abalone shell and through the tag at the location specified on the abalone tag." (California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 29.16 (b)(3)).